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Babylon spoils homecoming
FOOTBALL
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Heading into Saturday's homecoming matchup against highly regarded Babylon, the Port Jefferson football team still had a chance to make their season a success. A win would almost surely put them into the playoffs.
With the power point rankings, a close loss or tie might get them there too. Unfortunately, Babylon crushed the Royals 42-0 in the Division IV regular season finale, ending the Royals' season and eliminating them from playoff contention. Last year Port
Jefferson finished with a 5-3 record and qualified for the postseason action.
Babylon ran out to a 21-0 first quarter lead. "We knew going in that the physical matchup was going to be tough," said Port Jefferson head coach Jim Mimnaugh. "We tried to prepare by breaking down the films and trying to find any weaknesses. They played their physical game and came right at us and moved up and down the field. They handled us."
Despite the Babylon and John Glenn (28-0 on opening day) blowouts, the Royals posted a respectable 3-5 record overall including a 28-21 loss to Shoreham-Wading River, a 29-28 win over Center Moriches and a 35-21 loss to Hampton Bays.
"I'm proud of our boys," Mimnaugh said. "They came out to play every week. It would have been easy for them to put their heads down and quit, but they gave it their all every week. Our goal was to make the playoffs and I'm disappointed that we didn't. All of our games with the exception of Babylon, John Glenn and Bayport-Blue Point [a 27-7 loss] were exciting and fun to watch this year."
Saturday's game was no exception. They were simply overmatched. The Panthers compiled 336 yards in the air and on the ground against Port Jefferson. Meanwhile, the Royals contributed to their own misfortune by allowing three quarterback sacks and fumbling twice.
Babylon scored three times from inside the red zone in the first quarter and jumped out to a 21-0 lead. The team added another score in the second quarter to take a 28-0 lead at the half, then had two more scores in the third, including a 73-yard touchdown run by Satchel Holder to give the Panthers a 42-0 lead.
Forced to play from behind, the Royals received solid performances from quarterback Dan Serignese, who completed 11 of 20 passes for 88 yards and receiver Grant Greenhalgh who caught nine receptions for 67 yards. Defensive highlights were fumble recoveries by James Sampogna and Brandon Illickel.
"We tried to get some one-on-one matchups with our receivers and get them open," Mimnaugh said. "Unfortunately, we just didn't get much time to throw the ball. They also did a nice job of stopping our runs."
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